What's the latest on 811 fixes?

[JohnDoe#2]

..........

 

[nebguy94]

Interesting Link on McDonalds. I was going by memory and thought about checking it. My understanding was it was eventually overturned. But maybe it was reduced. I will have to take a closer look.

The original judgement was reduced, an appeal was filed. Later the appeal was dropped and even the reduced judgement was dropped as part of a private settlement between McDonald's and the plantiff...

 

[GaryPen]

Jiohn - It appears that Scott Adams used to work at Dish. How 'bout that!

 

[WeeJavaDude]

Jiohn - It appears that Scott Adams used to work at Dish. How 'bout that!

Actually not... He worked for Pac Bell. I personally worked with the woman that inspired the Alice character. You would be surprised at how many times that theme in that cartoon happens. There is always that pressure to get to market and in that pressure comes bad decisions.

 

[GaryPen]

I've heard that about him. The Dish comment was just a jibe, as the comic was so right on target with Dish.

 

[Foxbat]

Didn't someone, somewhere, suggest that Scott Adams be made aware of the situation at Dish? Hmmm...
(rats! I was going to post that!)

 

[SRW1000]

Man, that cartoon hits home, and not just with Dish. Our company is currently struggling with a specialty software company who insist on referring to patches as "enhancements."

What a joke. If you claim X about a product, and it doesn't do X, then any fixes for it are patches - not enhancements or development issues. How long will it take for Dish to claim the dark issue fix is an enhancement?

Scot

 

[WeeJavaDude]

I've heard that about him. The Dish comment was just a jibe, as the comic was so right on target with Dish.

I know it was a jibe... correcting the jibe was a jibe in itself. Looks ilke I out jibed you.

 

[long_time_DNC]

Good advice Joe. I sometimes find myself slide down that path and have to catch myself. The last time this happened was when the 6000 introduced a IR bug that caused Tivos not to work with the unit. Boy did that cause a major revolt. . It really surprised me because the 6000 was an HD box but a lot of people used it as a regular tuner also and this bug was like a life stopper and people went belistic. Even with this outrage it took dish 3 weeks to fix. Software fixes with embedded software with this type of distribution model cannot be done in days. As you said.. One person's opinion.

As a software developer by profession, I find that it's easy to begin to lose my temper at what I sometimes percieve as users' unreasonable change requests. Over 20 years in this line of work, one learns that it's pointless to get bent out of shape at change requests that seem unreasonable. You just do them because that's what the users want (well, maybe 75% of the requests anyway).

I can imagine an IR bug like that getting introduced would get folks more than a little upset. . 3 weeks would seem like a long time, but sometimes, in the lifecycle of changing code and testing, it takes that long (sometimes longer) to get a problem fixed and put it into production. A problem I've been working on at the office has actually taken longer than that to fix and that's no joke. It should go into production tomorrow night, after 7 weeks of work and testing, if all goes well.

As for 266...well, I still hold out hope that it'll be released fairly soon and (hopefully) fix the dark video (and other) problems with the 811.

Joe

 

[GaryPen]

I know it was a jibe... correcting the jibe was a jibe in itself. Looks ilke I out jibed you.

Curses! Jibed again!

 

[hancox]

In any case, there are mutliple manufacturers/developers for DirecTV gear, all of which are familiar with designing and manufacturing consumer electronics. Until Dish/Echostar uses this model, they will continue to offer bug infested, partially enabled equipment, some of which never reach full operability before being discontinued.

Dish needs to get out of the equipment business, and concentrate on providing service.

Sorry to burst your anti-Dish bubble, but part of D*'s NewsCorp fun stuff is to get rid of exactly what you're talking about, and go to the E* model. Sorry

 

[keith]

Sorry to burst your anti-Dish bubble, but part of D*'s NewsCorp fun stuff is to get rid of exactly what you're talking about, and go to the E* model.

Sorry, can't follow your anti-anti-Dish logic.

I like to eat good tasting food. Does that make me anti-food?

As a Dish subscriber, all I want is a receiver that works without major bugs. Closing in on 5 months ownership with the 811, with 2 software updates, and still nowhere close to giving me pride of ownership. Hanging in there and waiting for P266.

Keith.

 

[hancox]

oh, totally agreed with you there. 811 is buggy, no doubt. I was just pointing out that the chance of E* going to a model that D* is currently in the process of dropping, is, well, not likely

That being said - this is something that should probably be outsourced to a real CE company, not this podunk british POS company that currently does it.

 

[WeeJavaDude]

As a software developer by profession, I find that it's easy to begin to lose my temper at what I sometimes percieve as users' unreasonable change requests. Over 20 years in this line of work, one learns that it's pointless to get bent out of shape at change requests that seem unreasonable. You just do them because that's what the users want (well, maybe 75% of the requests anyway).

I can imagine an IR bug like that getting introduced would get folks more than a little upset. . 3 weeks would seem like a long time, but sometimes, in the lifecycle of changing code and testing, it takes that long (sometimes longer) to get a problem fixed and put it into production. A problem I've been working on at the office has actually taken longer than that to fix and that's no joke. It should go into production tomorrow night, after 7 weeks of work and testing, if all goes well.

As for 266...well, I still hold out hope that it'll be released fairly soon and (hopefully) fix the dark video (and other) problems with the 811.

Joe

I know bugs that have been worked on for months to be fixed. There are also those class of bugs that get fixed and out pops another another. It is like that game where the squrrals pop there heads up. You hit one and another pops up, you hit than one and the orginal one pops up. Software can be funny at times even under the most controlled environment. (Before This starts a flame, I am not saying Dish has a controlled software environment). Based on their originally out of box experience I would say that they don't. Since they controlled the whole data path they should do a better job.

 

[WeeJavaDude]

oh, totally agreed with you there. 811 is buggy, no doubt. I was just pointing out that the chance of E* going to a model that D* is currently in the process of dropping, is, well, not likely

That being said - this is something that should probably be outsourced to a real CE company, not this podunk british POS company that currently does it.

Is the British company doing the 811? I thought they were only doing the 921.

 

[GaryPen]

Sorry to burst your anti-Dish bubble, but part of D*'s NewsCorp fun stuff is to get rid of exactly what you're talking about, and go to the E* model. Sorry

Actually, DirecTV management has talked about going to a single branding scheme. They did not say they would develop in-house. If the scheme comes to pass, they will most likely use one of the current developer/manufacturers, like LG, who already designs and manufacturers many D* boxes, including re-badged Hughes and Sony brand receivers.

 

[WeeJavaDude]

Actually, DirecTV management has talked about going to a single branding scheme. They did not say they would develop in-house. If the scheme comes to pass, they will most likely use one of the current developer/manufacturers, like LG, who already designs and manufacturers many D* boxes, including re-badged Hughes and Sony brand receivers.

Are you sure about this.. Doesnt Rubert have his own boxes? I would expect him to use his own equipment if that happens. If he does, then E* and D* models will be the same.

 

[GaryPen]

The closest thing currently to a DirecTV brand of HW is Hughes. LG makes the Hughes HD box. I do not know who makes the Hughes basic, SD Tivo, or HD Tivo. Whoever it is, they already do a far far far far better job than Dish. There is no denying that.

 

[WeeJavaDude]

The closest thing currently to a DirecTV brand of HW is Hughes. LG makes the Hughes HD box. I do not know who makes the Hughes basic, SD Tivo, or HD Tivo. Whoever it is, they already do a far far far far better job than Dish. There is no denying that.

Well Since i have not used Rubert's version of his boxes I can not comment what is better it terms of usability and reliability..

I am still trying to figure why you went with Dish when you feel DirecTV or anything other than Dish is a better option. I went with Dish for an International requirment. Why did you go with Dish in the first place with their receiver relability issues? (Not trying to start a flame, just interested on what brought you into Dishs world). If I recalll, you are going to bail as soon as your contract is up.

 

[GaryPen]

I am still trying to figure why you went with Dish when you feel DirecTV or anything other than Dish is a better option. I went with Dish for an International requirment. Why did you go with Dish in the first place with their receiver relability issues? (Not trying to start a flame, just interested on what brought you into Dishs world). If I recalll, you are going to bail as soon as your contract is up.

Since you ask...

I went with Dish this time, because I had them before. I was a customer for almost 5 years, before getting married and choosing Cable for our new habitat. (It was easier.) After a year, we got an HDTV, and wanted to enjoy some HD programming. Comcast didn't offer HD in our area, and Dish's carrot of free HD equipment and 3 months free AT120 w/HBO-Max was hard to resist. Unfortunately, I didn't do the research to see how much they changed in the year I was away.

When I first subbed back in 98, they were the little DBS that could. Charlie had a homey, "aw shucks" appeal. His Charlie Chats made me feel like he really cared about his customers, compared to the big, bad, corporate DirecTV. Dish offered more channels, and lower prices for programming and HW, as well. I never had an issue with my Dish HW back then, either, except for a bad switch.

Dish is no longer that company. They have grown too fast. Their HW development and manufacture is a friggin' joke. Charlie talks Bullsh!t, and breaks promise after promise like some two bit politician. Their policies are unfair to consumers. That is, if you can even keep up with what they are, since they change constantly. Their corporate strategy is on par with the government's Iraq strategy.

Despite having Dish Club coupons, I would never recommend Dish to friends, colleagues, or acquaintances. I always recommend DirecTV to those who ask.

I fully intend to bail, probably before my contract is up. However, since we only recently signed on as new subs (new address, phone number, wife's name), we have a while to go. I'll bail when there are only a few months left, dropping to the minimum AT60 at $25/mo. But, I need to wait at least until the end of baseball season, as DirecTV doesn't have supers, and I like my WPIX. I guess I'll have to spring for MLB EI, once I switch.